WiFi is a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to a wireless local area network (WLAN) through an access point. The term WAP is used herein to denote a WiFi access point. WAP connections are commonly free and therefore there is a growing interest in connecting to WAPs as often as possible.
iPass, Inc., Redwood Shores, Calif., the assignee of this patent application, offers services to help users navigate WiFi networks. This is advantageous because Win networks may behave differently at different times. For example, a known WiFi network may shut down or may stop supporting a particular service. The process of detecting a known WiFi network returning to service is referred to herein as recovery.
New WiFi networks become available every day. It would be advantageous to automatically characterize new WiFi networks and make them available to users. The process of detecting new WiFi networks is referred to herein as discovery.
WiFi network recovery and discovery entails establishing a WiFi access point handshake. This process may also be referred to herein as probing. A WiFi access point handshake entails associating with a WiFi access point, which is a process that consumes a lot of power at a client device.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for establishing WiFi access point handshake priorities.